Map madness in the media center

For a week in early December, Tisch Library was more than just a place where students congregated to pour over books and study for exams. Instead, it became a place to which the Tufts community excitedly flocked, hoping to acquire maps that were being given away. According to an email sent to Tufts students, the library gave out maps from Nov. 5-9 due to the GIS room's repurposing.

For sophomore Amanda Danielson, the map giveaway provided a whole new decor for her room.

“I was really excited when I heard that the library was giving out maps," Danielson said. "I got a map from my home state Connecticut from a city called Danielson, which I thought was really significant, because that’s also my last name.”

Sophomore Tzuria Falkenberg also took some maps for their aesthetic appeal.

“I got maps for neighbors, maps as gifts and maps for myself," sophomore Tzuria Falkenberg said. "I got a map from 1944 of my neighborhood. You can’t see my house because it wasn’t built yet, but there are other distinguishing elements of my neighborhood that are on there. Some maps felt interconnected and those are the ones I chose. I have some friends from Walla Walla, Washington and so I got maps for them from there. Some maps were just for me to display in my room."

Staff members, like Library Assistant William Bilkic, who has worked at the library for the last seven years, also acquired free maps during the giveaway. Bilkic is from Germany, but was interested in the topography of the United States.

“I got a map of Montana and North Dakota and somewhere in Massachusetts,” he said.

Since he often works at the front desk, Bilkic said he noticed an increase in library traffic due to the map giveaway.

“So many students were in there every day, every night," Bilkic said. "It drew a lot of traffic for the library. Not just students -- it was everyone, everyone had plans to use the maps.”

Benjamin Maggio, a first year graduate student studying music who works at Tisch library, also witnessed the map madness.

"I was working the day before they officially started giving away the maps, and a student ran by with just an armful of maps," he said. "I teased him about getting a ‘good haul’ and then came back a dozen times, and left with arms full of maps each time. I later looked at the map room and saw how many maps there were, and I knew he didn’t even make a dent.”

Sophomore Boris Leypunski, who started working at the library this semester, said many students did not know the maps existed until the giveaway took place.

"It was amusing to see so many people clamoring for maps when they were there all along," he said. "It's like they only started caring about the maps here when they heard they were free to take."